Parliamentary Network E-News

Volume 9
No. 6
June, 2015
 
Focus on Russia

Russia: Church and State Sign Agreement to Prevent Abortion

The Ministry of Health in Russia has signed an agreement with the Russian Orthodox Church that includes prevention of abortion and provision of palliative care. The agreement signed by Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, website was published on the of the Synodal Department for ROC Church Charity and Social Service.  

  

Article 9 of the 21 article agreement establishes cooperation "on the protection of maternal and child health, including reproductive health, promotion of family values and prevention of abortion." The agreement includes joint actions with medical institutions for the "creation of crisis pregnancy centers at hospitals with the participation of psychologists and representatives of religious organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church"; "the participation of representatives of religious organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church in advising women who are planning to terminate the pregnancy, in medical institutions" ; and for the provision of space for "posting information of religious organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church on the stands in medical institutions."

 

Additionally, the two parties will also undertake "joint efforts to provide assistance and support to pregnant women whose prenatal diagnosis indicate to the malformation of the fetus, as well as mothers who give birth to a child with developmental disabilities."


Under Article 5, the Orthodox Church will cooperate with the Health Ministry in the preparation of health professionals by providing formative instruction on the spiritual foundations of medical activities and by facilitating the interaction of medical organizations with organizations of the Russian Orthodox Church.


Legislation Proposed to Restrict Access to Abortion

The Russian State Duma is considering legislation on abortion that includes limiting funding for abortion to only those that are considered medically necessary. The bill is designed to help reduce the number of Russian children destroyed through the violence of abortion.  

 

According to the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs, for every 1,000 births, there are 34 abortions in Russia where the fertility rate is below replacement at 1.53.

 

The legislation would ban private abortion clinics and over-the-counter sale of abortion inducing medication would only be available through a doctor's prescription. Women considering abortion would be given ultrasounds. One of the sponsors of the legislation, Yelina Mizulina, states that "up to 80 percent of them [abortion minded women] refuse to have the abortion when they see their child on the screen."  

 

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, is seeking a total ban on abortion. In a speech to the Duma earlier this year, the first ever by a religious leader, he referred to abortion as "evil" and "infanticide." In regards to the present bill, he believes that "taxpayers must not pay for this."

 

In response to the proposed legislation, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe tabled Written Declaration 594 entitled "Women's right to access appropriate reproductive health services in the Russian Federation" which states:

 

We the undersigned members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly are strongly concerned about the three draft laws submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation aiming to severely restrict access of women to abortion. They aim:

  • to require women to visualise and listen to the heartbeats of the foetus before being given permission to access a legal abortion;
  • exclude coverage of abortion from the Obligatory Medical Insurance;
  • to prohibit the sale of safe medication that terminate pregnancies.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has clearly stated that "ultrasound scanning is not routinely required for abortion". It only serves emotionally manipulate women. Excluding insurance coverage for a service that only women need is discriminatory and will affect poor, rural women and women in vulnerable situations. The State medical system must additionally ensure the availability of various methods of abortion suitable at different stages of pregnancy. These proposed measures will  lead to backstreet abortions and increase maternal mortality and morbidity rates and are an affront to women's rights.

 

All individuals are entitled to the highest attainable standard of health, which the State must ensure. We call on parliamentarians in Russia to turn down the above draft laws.

 

PNCI notes that the Members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in their rush to object to the pro-life provisions with worn-out pro-abortion arguments are forgetting that the ICPD Programme of Action states in section 8.2: "Any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process."

 

The Russian State Duma is acting in its sovereign capacity to save the lives of Russian children and offer their mothers real help and support. Such action ought to be applauded, and if not, it should not be opposed as the action is fully compliant with international standards.  

International Pro-Abortion Pressure

Abortion Via Drone

Abortion pills delivered by drones is the latest abortion tactic in the push to circumvent pro-life laws and enable women to commit illegal abortion to Poland. A collaborative effort led by the Dutch abortion group Women on Waves recently launched the "Abortion Drone" from Germany which crossed the border and delivered abortion pills to two Polish women who took the pills to induce illegal abortion. German police had attempted to stop the drones; confiscated the controllers and iPads and are reportedly pressing charges. Not only did the drones break the law banning abortion, they did so with mifepristone and misoprostol-- drugs for RU 486 abortions that are not registered in Poland. The self-use of these abortion inducing drugs puts women at risk for incomplete abortion and dangerous side effects, including severe hemorrhage and death. 


Right to Abortion Above Girls' Right to Life

Asia-based NGOs hosted a meeting in New Delhi to discuss efforts to reduce sex selective abortion and the impact of such efforts on access to abortion. The discussion led by Asia Safe Abortion Partnership (ASAP) and Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA) centered not on saving the lives of girls who are identified in the womb and targeted for abortion but rather on how measures to prevent sex selection were impacting access to abortion. One of the major complaints was the drop in availability of abortion inducing drugs despite the fact that a large quality of the drugs is manufactured in India and China.   

  

The sex selection vs. access to abortion discussion included remarks by Sonali Regmi, Regional Manager for Asia for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which focused on women who seek sex selection abortion, "..when it comes to this issue of sex selection we routinely hold meetings and discussions without bringing in the perspective of the women who are seeking or obtaining sex determination and selection."

 

The meeting was "warned" about the effective work of the pro-life organization Voice of the Fetus Nepal and concern was expressed about government sponsored posters which said 'feticide is a grave sin' and 'feticide is a crime'. A speaker noted, "This kind of messaging conflict in verbal as well as visual media has been an ongoing problem." 

International Pro-Life Actions

UN: Pro-Life Groups Strongly Urge the HRC to Respect Life

Over 30 pro-life organizations have called upon the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) to respect the unborn child's right to life as it deliberates the Right to Life provision of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The HRC had requested submissions on Article 6 (Right to Life) of the ICCPR as it prepares to write General Comment No. 36. on the article. Pro-life statements from groups in the United States, Europe and Latin America urged the committee to resist pressure to treat unborn children as "an exception" to the right to life, highlighted the damaging physical and psychological effects abortion has on women, raised concern for the ethical issues surrounding fertility treatments and frozen embryos, expressed concern for the discrimination of sex selective abortion and denial of a baby girl's right to life, and opposed the eugenic practice that eliminates children in the womb with disabilities.

 

PNCI Director Marie Smith submitted a statement for Priests for Life (PFL) recommending that General Comment No.36 affirm a non-discriminatory application of the right to life that applies to all members of the human family stating that the right to life is the foundation of human rights and extends to all individuals from conception to natural death, concluding that no one ought to arbitrarily be denied their right to life.

 

The PFL statement warned, "Selective exclusion of the "right to life" for any member of the human family impacts the right to life of all by bestowing an arbitrary status to an inalienable right that is dependent on the subjective views of others rendering the unborn child's right to life contingent on whether or not she is "wanted" by another, considered "worthy of life", or deemed "perfect" enough."

 

The PFL statement also referred to Article 7 of the ICCPR on torture which states, in part: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" and compared abortion to torture stating: "Abortion is a violent act that by its very nature is cruel, inhuman and degrading; it is a denial of human dignity and a violation of the right to life. Abortion methods dismember the developing human being inflicting excoriating pain when imposed on an unborn child past 20 weeks gestation who is capable of feeling pain. Dilation and Evacuation abortions tear the child limb by limb. Abortion imposes torture upon children."

 

A number of the pro-life submissions reminded the HRC that no UN treaty includes a right to abortion.

Focus on the United Nations

New WHO Report Includes Abortion as "Sexual Health"

A new report by the World Health Organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR)- Sexual Health, Human Rights and the Law- includes access to abortion and contraception as a critical part of "sexual health". A footnote explains, "Some of the dimensions of sexual health overlap with what is classically included under reproductive health. Contraception and abortion in particular are frequently counted as part of reproductive health. They are included in this report on sexual health precisely because they are about NOT reproducing, but they are directly connected to sexuality and sexual activity."

 

A broad spectrum of issues related to sexuality and sexual identity are also included; all are presented as human rights with commentary on how existing laws must be changed to accommodate these issues. The report reviewed existing laws, court decisions, recommendations by UN treaty monitoring bodies, international consensus documents, and reports by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health. These are cited in an attempt to create new "human rights standards" to advance abortion and others issues identified as part of "sexual health".

 

Laws restricting or regulating abortion are opposed and described as "likely to have serious implications for health"; laws requiring parent consent for abortion are opposed. The non registration and unavailability of the abortion inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol are considered "barriers to access". Other "barriers" to abortion access include:

 

"Another major barrier to sexual health services in some countries is the refusal by some health-care providers to provide sexual and reproductive health services on grounds of conscientious objection.

 

The availability of health-care facilities and trained providers within reach of the entire population is essential to ensuring access to sexual health services.

 

Some national laws stipulate that only doctors can perform certain services. In the area of sexual health, many services do not necessarily have to be provided by a physician, but can be competently provided by nurses, midwives or auxiliary nurses."

 

Not only are laws and regulations on abortion presented as "barriers" to be removed but access to "sexual health" needs to be "integrated as part of primary health care or provided as standalone services, to address the most significant sexual health problems and concerns of the particular country, district or region."

 

The proposed Sustainable Development Goal on health includes Target 3.7 which also seeks to include sexual and reproductive health in primary health care. It states: "By 2030 ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes."

 

PNCI urges a careful reading of this report to best understand the vast agenda of "sexual health".

 


UN Again Ignores National Laws against Abortion

The United Nations' treaty monitoring body for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) ignored the pro-life laws of four countries under review during its recent 55th session and strongly urged the countries to change their laws or policies on abortion, despite the fact that the treaty does not mention abortion.

 

The Committee for the CESCR told Chile, Ireland, Uganda and Venezuela to enact new legislation on abortion and adopt new guidelines on abortion to broaden access to abortion in each respective country.    

 

Ireland's constitutional protection of life from conception was targeted for elimination as the Committee told Ireland: "The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary steps, including a referendum on abortion, to revise its legislation on abortion, including the Constitution and the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, in line with international human rights standards."

 

The term "human rights standards" comes straight from the pro-abortion legal toolkit. No international human rights treaty includes abortion as a human right and no matter how many times the claim may be repeated, the destruction of an unborn child in abortion is a reproductive wrong, not a human right. There is no universally recognized "right to abortion".

 

Read more here. 

 
Legislative News

New Zealand: Government Opposes Legislation to Legalize Euthanasia

New Zealand's government will create a "select committee" to investigate euthanasia but does not support legislation to legalize assisted suicide. Prime Minister John Key expressed doubt that a bill to change the law would come for a full vote due to strong opposition by a number of MPs and public opinion against euthanasia. The inquiry follows a ruling by the nation's High Court this June that said it is up to parliament to change the law on assisted suicide.

France: Senate Rejects Bill to Permit Sedation of Terminal Patients

The French Senate has rejected a bill to permit the sedation of terminally ill patients by a vote of 196-87. The bill would not have permitted euthanasia per say, rather "the right to deep, continuous sedation until death." The legislation would require doctors to follow a patient's end of life instructions pertaining to sedation, possibly sedating them for weeks at a time, during which the patient would be denied food and fluids and die of dehydration. The bill will be revisited by the lower house of parliament, which had previously the bill.

UK: Group of MPs Propose Restricting Free Speech Near Abortion Clinics

Nine members of Parliament have proposed a motion to create a buffer zone around abortion clinics in the UK. The motion calls upon the government to propose legislation to prevent religious groups from protesting near health centers that perform abortion. The motion states: "The right to peaceful protest should not interfere with the fundamental right for women to make individual reproductive choices."

 

Home Office Minister Mike Penning responded that he believes that the police already has adequate authority and ability and no further action is needed.  

 

Green MP Caroline Lucas proposed the motion and was backed by MPs from the Labour party and Scottish National Party. She stated, "This isn't about shutting down debate. It's about the balance of rights. The right to peaceful protest and free speech can be upheld without infringing upon a woman's fundamental right to make her own sexual health choices. The Government has a duty to ensure these legal healthcare services can continue to operate and be accessed safely - and I strongly urge it to legislate to that effect. These must be intimidation-free zones."

Judicial News

Colombia: Doctors Must Assist in Euthanasia

Colombia's Constitutional Court has ruled that doctors working in public health institutions, and the institution, cannot refuse a patient's request for assisted suicide and must carry out the procedure or find an institution that will. Euthanasia was decriminalized in 1997 but was not followed by either legislation or health regulations until earlier this year when a case was brought to the Court by a woman with advanced stage of cancer who wanted to end her life. The Court ruled that the Health Ministry must mandate that all public doctors and institutions provide access to euthanasia and required implementing legislation from the ministry. The order has been criticized by the Health Ministry, a number of doctors and institutions, and the Catholic Church. The Court ruled that prolonging the existence of a terminal patient is "equivalent not only to cruel and inhumane treatment, but the cancellation of his dignity."

Ireland: Pro-Life Leader Vindicated of Charges, Plans to Open Pregnancy Center

Bernadette Smyth, Director of the Ireland's Precious Life, was vindicated of charges of harassment. In late 2014, Smyth was convicted of harassing Dawn Purvis of Marie Stopes International while protesting outside the Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast. Smyth celebrated the ruling and her vindication, and announced plans to open a crisis pregnancy center in Belfast to counter the Marie Stopes clinic. The center will be an affiliate of Stanton Healthcare in the United States, which includes in its mission "to provide women facing an unplanned pregnancy with life-affirming options in an environment that promotes physical, emotional, and mental well-being".

 

The Belfast center and will be the first Stanton Healthcare clinic in Europe. "I want to show vulnerable women that there are alternatives to abortion out there. I want to give them hope and help them through whatever crisis they are facing. There are many women out there in need of such a facility. Marie Stopes International has not really been successful here because many women have chosen alternatives to its services and we have been putting forward real choices," explained Smyth.

Issues

Belgium: Report of Thousands Involuntarily Euthanized

A recent study out of Belgium reports thousands of patients are killed against their will by their doctors. The study in the Journal of Medical Ethics found 1 in 60 patient deaths included someone who didn't want to die, half were over the age of 80, and two-thirds were not suffering a terminal illness.

 

Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor of Hull University, the study's author, warned the Belgian population that they could be killed if doctors deemed their life not worth living. "The decision as to which life is no longer worth living is not in the hands of the patient but in the hands of the doctor. It should also be noted that deliberately ending the lives of patients without their request is taking place in Belgium more than in all other countries that document such practices, including the Netherlands. It is worrying that some physicians take upon themselves the responsibility to deliberately shorten patients' lives without a clear indication from the patients that this is what they would want," said Cohen-Almagor. Belgium's euthanasia law is the world's most liberal, even permitting assisted suicide for children with disabilities and terminal illness.

Video Campaign: Physicians Say "Don't Count on Me" for Abortions

A new video campaign features Chilean and Peruvian doctors affirming their respect for life saying "don't count on me" to do abortions. The videos come in response to movements by both countries' governments to legalize abortion. "If you are thinking we will perform abortions, don't count on me, because in Chile no one is expendable," says a Chilean doctor in a video that is part of the "Nadie Sobra" (No One is Expendable) movement. Abortion is currently banned in Chile, which also has one of the world's lowest maternal mortality rates, however, President Bachelet has announced plans to amend the law.

 

A video of Peruvian doctors in another video also has a powerful message: "To care, respect and protect life is the essence of our profession. The conceived baby, whether planned or not, has the right to be born, and nobody has the right to suppress its life." Peru's campaign, "As Innocent as You", coincided with Congress' consideration of legislation to increase access to abortion, which was ultimately defeated.


 
 
Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues
Advancing global respect and dignity for life through law and policy.

Pro-life Sand Sculpture

 

The winning entry in a worldwide sand sculpting competition was the amazing entry entitled "Life" by sculptor Karen Fralich. The work of sand art depicted the unborn child smiling, nestled safely in the womb.


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www.PNCIUS.org has been updated with expanded information on Human Dignity and critical issues including: Abortion, Bioethics, Child Mortality, End of life issues, Infanticide, Maternal mortality and Sex-selective abortion.
 
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